Apple's COVID-19 Screening Tool Now Lets You Anonymously Share Your Responses With Health Authorities
Apple has updated its COVID-19 screening tool with an option for users to anonymously share their responses with Apple, state public health agencies, and the CDC, including their age, symptoms, and more, as noted by TechCrunch.
Apple says the information collected will be used to improve the tool and to better understand the spread of COVID-19. The company ensures that no personally identifiable information will be shared, such as your name or your phone number. Your information will also be aggregated with others' responses as an additional privacy measure.
Apple's commitment to privacy:
If you choose to share your responses, they will be provided to Apple in a way that does not personally identify you. Apple will then provide reports to the CDC and approved state public health agencies. Only information that has been both de-identified and aggregated will be provided to the CDC and state public health agencies. This means that no information that could identify you or your individual responses to the tool will be included. Information about the pre-existing conditions you select will also not be shared; only the total number of conditions that you select.
The CDC and approved state public health agencies may only use the information to improve the tool and for purposes related to managing the COVID‑19 pandemic. Further, the CDC and state public health agencies are required to comply with privacy and security protections, including not further disclosing the information and implementing appropriate safeguards.
Apple's screening tool allows users to answer a series of questions regarding risk factors, recent exposure, and symptoms and receive CDC recommendations on next steps, including guidance on social distancing and self-isolating, how to closely monitor symptoms, whether or not a test is recommended at this time, and when to contact a medical provider.
The tool, available online and as an iPhone app, also offers access to COVID-19 resources to help people stay informed and get support. For example, there are answers to frequently asked questions about the virus.
The screening tool can be used by anyone who is 18 years of age or older in the United States. Apple says the tool does not replace instructions from healthcare providers or guidance from state and local health authorities.
Popular Stories
A leaker known as "Majin Bu" today shared an alleged image of a component for the rumored, ultra-thin "iPhone 17 Air" model.
The blurry, pixelated image shows a pair of rear iPhone shells with a pill-shaped, raised camera bar along the top. On the left side of the bar, there is a circular cutout that appears to be for a single rear camera. On the right side of the bar, there appears to be an ...
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app.
Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
Apple provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 18.3 today, and with it comes release notes confirming what's new. While we knew about several of the features that are in the update, there are some lesser known tweaks and bug fixes.
The update adds new Visual Intelligence features for iPhone 16 models, it tweaks Notification summaries on all...
A new iPhone SE is widely rumored to launch this year, and the device has potentially been confirmed today by known leaker Evan Blass.
In a private social media post, Blass shared an image of what appears to be source code mentioning an iPhone SE (4th Gen), which casts doubt on the alternative "iPhone 16E" name rumored for the device. However, the name in the source code could be a...
Apple on late Saturday removed TikTok from the App Store in the U.S., and it has now explained why it was required to take this action.
Last year, the U.S. passed a law that required Chinese company ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok due to potential national security risks, or else the platform would be banned. That law went into effect today, and companies like Apple and Google...
After a four-year wait, a new AirTag is finally expected to launch in 2025. Below, we recap rumored upgrades for the accessory.
A few months ago, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple was aiming to release the AirTag 2 around the middle of 2025. While he did not offer a more specific timeframe, that means the AirTag 2 could be announced by the end of June.
The original AirTag was announced...
Popular caller ID app Truecaller is rolling out an update that brings real-time caller ID support to its iOS subscribers.
Apple introduced Live Caller ID Lookup in iOS 18, allowing third-party caller ID apps to securely retrieve information about a caller from their servers, hence today's Truecaller update.
iPhone users can enable the Live Caller ID Lookup feature by going to Settings ➝ ...
Apple plans to release at least one new iPad Pro model this year, according to a supplier-focused report today from Korean website The Elec. It is likely that the 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Pro models would be updated simultaneously.
After receiving an OLED display last year, the report said the iPad Pro will receive only "minor" changes this year. Overall, the next iPad Pro is expected to...
iOS 19 will not drop support for any iPhone models, according to French website iPhoneSoft.fr.
The report cited a source who said iOS 19 will be compatible with any iPhone that can run iOS 18, which would mean the following models:
iPhone 16
iPhone 16 Plus
iPhone 16 Pro
iPhone 16 Pro Max
iPhone 15
iPhone 15 Plus
iPhone 15 Pro
iPhone 15 Pro Max
iPhone 14
iPhon...
